Patriotism - it is not an explosion of emotions, but calm and strong commitment that lasts throughout a person's life.
Robert Louis Stevenson.
The nineties ... South Ossetia ... War ... Before my eyes are the television scenes very similar to the footage of the siege of Stalingrad - the same deserted streets, multi-meter bread lines and empty sockets of flats.
And nightly shelling of Tskhinval, burned villages, mutilated bodies, the cemetery at the school yard, and the guys with the primitive weapons at the barricades. They were young, perky, ready to fight to the bitter end- for the native land, the land of their ancestors. Thanks to these guys Tskhinval survived in the 90's, thanks to them we are now living in our native land in a recognized state.
"They were great people - Andrey Kozaev, Khubul, Parpat, Colorado, Gamat, Alan and Oleg Ostaev, and many other good guys. There was some specific aura around them people next to did not feel fear, they were charged with their energy and confidence, "- the names mixed up with nicknames. In memory of a well -known writer Tamerlane Tadtaev the names and nicknames will remain forever. In his stories he has very eloquently described their short but brilliant life - the dance of life and death.
Tamerlane Tadtaev was born in Tskhinval in 1966. Being a schoolboy, he and his family first moved to North Ossetia and then to Central Asia, the city of Dushanbe. Other people, other customs and traditions, the complex nature of Tamerlane and youth, when all is perceived very badly to be the result of frequent conflicts with peers. Tamerlane was forced for a time to return to his native Tskhinval. A year later he returned to Dushanbe and entered the art school, but for a year before, he was working an artist's model - it was a condition for admission to the prestigious school.
Tamerlane Tadtaev did military service in Tbilisi, where had already been shown the first signs of the Georgian nationalism, developed later into one of the most brutal wars in the former Soviet Union - the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict.
"Going home after the army, I went by bus with the inscription "Tskhinval." Near the Georgian town of Gori our bus was stoned, along the whole road Georgians went up to the bus with the posters, they were very aggressive "- is one of the first memories about that war of the future defender of the homeland.
When, in 1991, the conflict entered the active phase, Tamerlane, following the example of his friends began to search for weapons. He had to sell the building materials, which his father had bought for the construction of the second floor of their home. But, even this home-made weapon, which cost a lot of money, was unsuitable.
"All of us to a certain point were convinced that the war would not be unleashed -" Russia will not allow this. "But our confidence was melting away with each passing day, and later they often changed their position, now they supported us and now the Georgians. We got arms as we could, someone brought from Russia, and the weapons were not of a good quality. We had some masters who altered the training school submachine guns in the combat ones. But still, our ammunition was very bad – we were armed with knives, homemade grenades. The best grenades were from Kvaisa, they were produced on a milling machine. The only disadvantage of these grenades was a short fuse, I was even afraid that it would blow up in my hand, "- he says, and began instructing me how to make an improvised grenade.
Weapon in the Republic appeared in 1992, also with assistance of the Ossetians, living in Russia and abroad.
Young men created groups and elected leaders in the districts of the town, there was fighting in the villages of the Republic, on the outskirts of Tskhinval. Many Ossetian villages were burned; some parts of the town from time to time were changing hands. There was an unequal struggle of the virtually unarmed small groups of the Ossetian guys with the strong detachments of the Georgian informal groups.
"I had not slept at home for a long time- that part of the town was controlled by the Georgians. We spent the nights right on the barricades or at our friends or relatives. The nights were very cold – we were warming ourselves with wine, vodka or during the shooting. We got products and bread, our bakery has not stopped working for a single day "- says Tamerlane.
One of the most painful memories is a battle, which took place in June 1092, in the so-called area of TEK - this hill is located to the east of Tskhinval, from which the Georgians were sweeping with fire the whole town. A leader of one of the units Parpat (Alan Dzhioev) decided to recapture the height.
"Parpat`s word was a law, and I am convinced that at that time he was a top leader," - said Tamerlane.
Earlier, Tamerlane with the guys had made a sortie in this area, so they were aware of the location of the Georgian troops.
"I offered to climb from the village of Mamisantubani, but Parpat decided to rush to a frontal attack. It was the most difficult and serious battle. Then we lost a lot of guys, and many injured, I also caught a piece of shrapnel in the neck. The battle was attended by about 200 guys, and they were moving up. Finally, we recaptured the height ... "- he said.
The young men brought up in an atmosphere of morality and humanity, who saw only a peaceful life, were suddenly forced to change their way of life. In this fight, there was no place to fear; behind us was our native land, families and friends.
"Everybody was terrified; there is a barrier, which you must overcome to suppress your cowardice. If you get over it, then you will reach a different level of perception. Now you begin feeling the situation, adrenaline in your blood has increased and you get great pleasure from what is happening. The most important thing is the commander to be worthy- if a commander is worthy, then you know what to do "- has shared his impressions Tamerlane.
The heaviest fighting took place in 1992. South Ossetia was not left by those who could fight and those who had no place to go. The town and the villages became almost deserted, but, Tskhinval refused to surrender, they were fighting to the bitter end.
1993 - another difficult period in the history of South Ossetia after the completion of the active phase of the fighting, after entering the tripartite Joint Peace Keeping Forces in the conflict zone. The population has a huge amount of weapon; violence walked abroad and reached a critical level. There were not jobs, no way to earn money to feed their families. So, started the mob war between the guys that had stood shoulder to shoulder, defending their land. The inability of the authorities to use legal mechanisms to address this situation led to numerous deaths. There was a struggle for power at all levels; the victims of this struggle were often the people far from it.
Now you can often hear the stories of how many of the guys –defenders of South Ossetia- became looters, oppressed their people running riots. One of the most tragic pages in the history of the young Republic is also associated with the conflict of these guys with the South Ossetian special police squad, which led to casualties on both sides. After the assassination of the special police squad`s commander and three more people, was carried out the operation, resulted in 15 corpses of the Ossetian guys.
"If they were criminals, they should be judged. It was a real psychosis, people hated each other. When I saw the guys in the morgue, I was shocked - they were riddled with bullets, "- said Tadtaev.
"Almost all of those who had been fighting were called the looters, but we ourselves created the squads to fight with them. Mainly were fighting the guys from the disadvantaged and low-income families, and fighting was very expensive, and sometimes we had to go to extremes. For example, Parpat forced the Ossetians who had money to buy weapon for guys. Many of them were denuded of money to buy weapons and ammunition. After the war started the real outrage; everyone could be shot just for nothing. Each considered himselfa tough guy, if earlier they were fighting, now they were shooting. The fight was between the groups, and among the detachments and the special police squad, "- he said.
In such circumstances was created the South Ossetian customs, where began working Tamerlane. It was a dangerous work – he had to protect a car with the cargo passing through the territory of South Ossetia from the attacks of gangs.
"This is a black period in the history of Ossetia. The boys were dying and other people came to power who hated us, because we could ask any of them- "Where you were when we were at war?" They also tried to involve me in this conflict, but my self-preservation instinct was activated and I went to North Ossetia. After returning Khubul helped me to return back to work. It was a year before his death, "- says Tamerlane.
The best of the guys who against all odds, had managed to defend their homeland, died one by one, among them Khubul, Andrey Kozaev, Parpat, and many others. A real harassment by security forces has started. The boys continued dying, began a series of bizarre murders. Many were killed or beaten to death. Many of despair began using drugs, began to drink. We all were left alone with our problems - there was no psychological help, everyone survived as he could. I had to not just go away, but to flee from South Ossetia "- he has recalled bitterly.
He has agreed that after the war many of the guys chose undignified way.
"Most certainly they went in the wrong direction, but it is not applied to all. For myself, I hurt nobody, neither did Andrey Kozaev, nor the Ostaevs brothers, or Tabuev "- says Tamerlane.
Later Tamerlane, like many of his friends, has actively supported Eduard Kokoity during his election campaign, despite strong pressure of the current government, which did not want to give up. Kokoity won the election, but Tamerlane and his friends again were "left in the basket."
"Almost nothing has changed, high positions were still held by the officials who had worked with Chibirov. The attitude to the guys, who were still alive, has changed a little – they still had not help and support. I was working in the customs, which the boys had created from scratch. It was very disappointing, but after a while I was dismissed on grounds of redundancy,"- he said.
Tamerlane took part in the defense of South Ossetia in 2004 and 2008. He was awarded the Medal of the RSO "Defender of the Fatherland."
Writing his stories Tamerlane Tadtaev started following one method of psychiatry, which he used to get rid of oppressive obsessions.
"One psychologist advised me to write all the negative thoughts down on paper and then burn it. At some point I began to write my memoirs, it was like some outburst and I could not stop, "- he said.
The first editor of the stories by Tamerlane Tadtaev was Anna Chochieva, but as he says, only until the time when he became a real writer.
"I consider my first real work the story ''Colorado''. Anna refused to edit it, saying it contained much cruelty. She also refused to edit my second story ''The Chito Forest.'' But I've described what was really going on, "- he has shared his memories.
Later, Tamerlane himself started editing his stories.
To date, Tamerlane Tadtaev is a winner of the prestigious "Russian Award," a laureate of the prize "Neva" for the best publication. His stories have been published in many newspapers and magazines and are put on websites. Several collections of his short stories and poems have also been issued.
"I have often been said that no one would publish my stories, because they contain much blood, but I felt an urgent need to write about those events. Time is running out, memories are fading, and those were the great people, but nobody has written about them, "- he said with pain in his voice.
With the support of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in South Ossetia and the Ministry of Culture of South Ossetia Tamerlane was on probation of professor, writer, workshop leader Yuri Arabov at the Department of Drama at the Russian Federation State Institute of Cinematography.
"I want to express my gratitude to Tamerlane Dzudtsov, Makharbeg Kokoev - they have always supported and helped me," - he said.
Tamerlane has also written some scripts for short films, and in summer 2013 he is planning to start shooting the film, based on one of his stories.
